In Conclusion
by Gabe
Summary: The woman with a baby. The father to be. The woman no one understands. The man in pain. The girl in love. And the guy with a decision. Six friends. Three couples. One epic. The love, the marriage, the divorce, and the pain. It all ends now. In Conclusion.
1. The Italian Life

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In Conclusion

There comes a time in the life of every fanfic author when they must write an emotional fic. Not just some drama with a few tear-jerking chapters. Not your standard breakup and makeup story. But an epic. This is my epic. This fic will make or break me as a fanfic artist. This is the concluding fic in the first series I ever wrote. It started years ago with my alternate season 8. Ten episodes written in script form posted right here on fanfiction.net. The script form takes away from the storylines, which I thought were very good and creative. It is those storylines that lead us through "Friends - The Musical" and to here, at In Conclusion. This is the concluding story in the series that started it all for me. 

This is a dark fic. It's written from the depths of my soul and it will either fade into oblivion and be known forever as a piece of angsty crap, or it will be remember as one of the classics. I guess only time will tell. I hope that if you haven't read my series, you still continue to read this fic. It should be fairly easy to pick up on what's going on in the story. Read and review.

His eyes made him look much older than he really was. They were dark and clouded and aged well beyond their years. They were the eyes of a man that was damaged, a man that had felt more pain and suffering than any one person should. Those eyes glanced out of a large glass window, taking in the town below. Rome was a wonderful place - it was classic, it was quiet, and it was beautiful, but it wasn't home. Home was in New York City. Home was with his friends. Home was with Monica.

"Shit…" He cursed as he turned away from the window. He had done it again…he had thought of her. It had been over four and a half months since he last saw her in person, back in his apartment, before he decided to run away. When he had decided to leave New York, he had thought he would be leaving with Joey and Rachel, two of his best friends, two people more than capable of being a steady support system. Instead, he left with only Joey, whose presence became almost non-existent once filming began, which left Chandler by himself for most of the day.

It only took a week of being by himself all day to inspire Chandler to find a job. He searched everyday for a week straight, but found that there was little need for part time American workers who only spoke English. But, as many things usually go, he found what he was looking for right when he was ready to give up searching. A small grocery store a block from the apartment he shared with Joey had a "Now hiring" sign on the door. Chandler went inside to acquire about the job, and found that it was a stock boy's position. Since he had spent several teenage years stocking goods at his own local grocery, the job seemed to be a perfect fit, and he took it.

He had spent eight hours a day, five days a week, for the last four and a half months shelving items, never talking to anyone, always keeping to himself. "The Angry American" was an interesting nickname he had been given from the other workers in the store. He knew about it, but he didn't care. He wasn't out to make friends with anyone, he was simply there because he had no where else to go. He was there because it was the farthest away from Monica he could think to be. 

He stepped away from the window and into the living room of the apartment Joey and he shared. It was a nice place, big and comfortable, completely furnished. The two of them had come quite a way since their canoe and lawn chair days. Chandler sunk down into one of two recliners that were parked in front of the big screen TV and reached for the remote. He flipped through countless channels, not really paying attention to what was on the screen, his mind constantly wandering off to other things, wandering off to Monica.

It amazed him sometimes. Four and a half months without speaking a single word to the woman and he still couldn't get her off of his mind. He knew it wasn't love that did it to him. It couldn't be love. He hated her far too much for it to be love. She had caused him too much pain for it to be love. But still, Chandler knew of nothing else but love that made a person think of someone else as much as he thought of her. He knew that all emotions eventually fade away, even those as strong as hate, but love - it hung around forever. No matter how bad he wanted it to go away.

His clouded eyes moved quickly to the door of his apartment as his roommate stepped inside. It was nearing midnight, which was the usual time of Joey's arrival after a long day of filming. Joey looked tired and worn out as he closed the door behind him, but he also looked happy. Chandler knew his best friend loved his job. He was working with his idol on a sitcom that was expected to be a hit, he was getting paid a six figure salary, and he was adored and worshipped by all the young female soap fans who worked on the set. The only thing missing in Joey's life was Rachel Green.

"Hey Joe, how was work?" Chandler let the remote settle onto the arm of his chair as he turned to face his friend.

"It was good. Only one more week left." The show had been signed for thirteen episodes, and it was scheduled to be a mid-season replacement for one of the fall's failing shows. They had twelve episodes in the bag, and after next week, they'd be all done. After that, they'd have to sit around and wait for the show to air. If it was a success, which all signs indicated it would be, then the show would be signed on for a second, full-length season, and filming would begin in the fall. If the show was not well received, then they would not be re-signed, and that would be it. Either way, in a week, Joey got to go back to New York City and see his girlfriend. It looked as if he'd get back just before Phoebe was due to have her child. 

"And then you're heading back home. I'm gonna miss you man." Chandler smiled and stood up. He walked toward the kitchen and toward the fridge, intending to fix himself a drink. He glanced back at Joey as he opened the fridge. "Do you want something?"

Joey ignored the question, choosing instead to restart the argument they had already had a million times before. "You really should come back with me Chandler. I know you're not happy here." Joey slid onto a barstool on the opposite side of the island that was placed in the middle of their kitchen. 

"I wasn't happy in New York either Joe. At least here I'm far away from her." Chandler and Joey had argued the point countless times before, and every time they did, Chandler came out the winner. He didn't want to go home, but he didn't want to be in Rome either. It was pretty much a lose-lose situation, but he would learn to live with it. At least, he hoped he would.

"This is so stupid Chandler! Why don't you just go home and fix this thing?" Joey couldn't stand seeing Chandler so unhappy, and from what he heard from Rachel, Monica wasn't exactly on top of the world either. The two of them belonged together, it was clear to everyone. But what really frustrated Joey was that they knew they belonged together too. It wasn't as if the two of them were oblivious to the fact that they were meant for each other, they both knew that was true. But still, the two of them ignored it, and chose instead to be unhappy.

"I can't fix something when I don't know what part of it is broken. All I got was," Chandler rose his hands so that his fingers could angrily portray quotation marks, "irreconcilable differences. That's a little too broad of an excuse for me to work with." Chandler no longer bothered with the glass he had sat out for himself, deciding instead to simply drink from the bottle. If he was going to survive this conversation again, he was going to have to get a little drunk. 

"So ask her Chandler. Go home to New York, knock on her door, and demand some answers. You deserve that." Joey was willing to try anything to get his friend home. He knew he couldn't leave Chandler by himself. He was sure that his presence in his life was the only thing holding him together.

Chandler slowly sat his bottle down in front of him and spent the next few moments staring at the ground in front of him. Then, in a voice so filled with pain and heartbreak that not even Chandler recognized it as his own, he said, "I don't want answers Joe. I just want the pain to go away."

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Monica stared down at the New York Post that was opened to the Foods page where a picture of herself inside Central Perk's kitchen was shown. The group's business was getting great reviews from all sorts of mediums and was building a great reputation throughout the city. Under her picture was a caption that read, _"Monica Gellar, head chef at Central Perk, is the creator of all of the establishment's original items."_ However, for the first time in her life, it wasn't the praise that caught her attention.

It was the word Gellar. She had treasured the day when she became Monica Bing. The day when she married the man of her dreams, her best friend in the entire world, and left her days as the once fat, lonely, nerdy Monica Gellar way behind her. It occurred to her as her eyes read over the words that she was incredibly close to returning to her old form. She was lonely and she was nerdy. All she needed now was to get fat, and if she remained as depressed as she was, chances were she would. 

She missed her husband. It was her fault that they weren't together, and now things were so scarred she was sure that they were impossible to fix. She had never explained why she divorced him, and he didn't make her. It wasn't that Chandler didn't want to know, she knew that he desperately did, but she also knew that he still loved her. And because he did, he honored her wish not to talk about it. He always gave her exactly what she wanted. 

Monica discarded the newspaper and stretched out on her couch. Without looking, she reached her hand over to the center table and picked up a shiny silver picture frame. Inside the frame was a picture of Chandler and her at the zoo. They were standing outside the monkey's exhibit, staring at each other with looks of complete love and trust. Even with creatures slinging feces behind them, they still only saw each other.

She stared down at the picture as tears former in her eyes. She put herself through the same torture everyday of the week. She couldn't escape his ghost. It still haunted her. No matter how hard she tried, she could never quell the desire to stare at his face and remember all of the amazing times the two of them had together. The activity brought her some minute amount of joy, but in the end, the gut-wrenching pain that comes with realizing you screwed up the best thing that ever happened to you always overshadowed it.

She had destroyed Chandler Bing, she was sure of it. From what little information she got from Rachel, she could tell that the Chandler Bing she once knew and still loved was long gone. A bitter and confused man who lived his life in a daze of working, drinking, and heartache replaced him. She had turned Chandler Bing into a man that never smiled, and that fact made her feel worse than anything else did. Not only had she broken his heart, she had for all intents and purposes, killed Chandler.

The entrance of Phoebe and Ross into her apartment interrupted her ritual of self-inflicted pain. Phoebe was due to have her baby in less than two weeks and was showing in every possible way. Lucky for them, they now only lived right across the hall from Monica, so it wasn't much strain on Phoebe to frequently make the trip. A lot of moving had been done with their little group. Monica now lived in her apartment alone, and Ross and Phoebe lived across the hall. Rachel lived in the apartment Ross used to own in the building across from Monica. Joey would stay with Rachel when he returned from Rome and Chandler…well, no one had really discussed what would happen to Chandler. It was all too painful of a subject for any of them to bring up.

Phoebe slid down into a chair at the kitchen table, and Ross quickly rushed to her side to help her get comfortable. Monica took that opportunity to wipe the tears from her eyes and stuff the picture she was holding down in between some couch cushions. "Hey guys, what's up?" Monica rose from the couch and tried to appear as normal as possible. She pretty much knew that her crying was obvious, but she hoped that neither Ross nor Phoebe would mention it. 

She got her wish, as Ross decided to skip that line of questioning, since he knew full well exactly what she was crying about. Instead, he just played it cool. "Not a lot. We just wanted to come over and hang. We're not sure how much hang out time we're gonna get once little Jennifer arrives."

"Regina." Phoebe spat out the name quickly. They were two weeks from the due date and they still had not agreed on a name for their daughter. Phoebe's choice remained constant for the entire nine months. She wanted to name her daughter Regina, after her alter ego. Ross switched names quite often, but this particular week he had been pushing for Jennifer. His choices were always traditional, standard names that really bothered Phoebe.

Monica smiled at the two of them. They were truly happy together. So much had changed within their group. The constant back and forth of Ross and Rachel was long gone, as was the comforting consistency of Monica and Chandler. Joey was no longer womanizing and Phoebe was no longer floating back and forth between boyfriends. Everything was different, and unfortunately for Monica, her different was bad. Her different was painful.

Ross ignored her comment, he had been hearing it for nine months and was now immune. He instead opened up the fridge and pulled out a can of coke. Usually he would grab a beer, but since Phoebe couldn't drink alcohol in her pregnant state, he had chose to temporarily avoid it. He stepped toward the couch and leaned against its back, casually popping open his drink. He glanced at the clock on the wall and then turned to Monica, "Rachel working late or something?" It was unusual for Rachel to arrive after six. She got off at five and she spent most of her other time after that at Monica's.

It was best for both Monica and Rachel that they hung out a lot. It helped them miss their men a little bit less. Plus, Monica had a great long distance calling plan, so calling Joey was much cheaper for Rachel, since she spent hours upon hours on the phone with him. She spent so much time there that Monica was beginning to think they were roommates again. She knew she would miss her once Joey got back, since he would take up the majority of her time. 

"She called earlier and said she was on her way over, but before she hung up Joey called, so she clicked over to talk to him. Knowing them, they're probably still talking on the phone," Monica explained. 

Ross simply nodded his understanding. He took a moment to acknowledge how odd it was for him to talk about Rachel's love life and not be jealous. They both had found people close to them that made them feel complete. If it weren't for his relationship with Phoebe, he probably would have been upset about Joey and Rachel getting together. But he had Phoebe, and he wasn't upset. Things were great, and if Monica and Chandler would just work out their problems, things would have been perfect. 

Moments later, the door opened and Rachel Green came strolling into the apartment. She gave Ross and Phoebe a friendly smile as she sat her bag down on the table. She didn't notice Monica hidden by the back of the couch, and assumed she was out somewhere."Hey guys."

Phoebe smiled back and replied, "Hey, we were beginning to wonder where you were." Her hands were placed comfortably on the large bulge in her belly. She could tell by the rumblings inside her that she didn't have long left to go. She couldn't wait.

"Well Joey called. He had some pretty interesting news." Not seeing Monica, she continued with her news freely. "Chandler is coming home."

Monica's eyes shot opened as she heard the news. Chandler was coming back to New York City.

Her Chandler was coming home.

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Read and review. Please.


	2. The Man in 12D

**The Man in 12D.**

A bad idea. This was a very, very bad idea. It was twenty steps backward. It was a hundred miles in the wrong direction. Chandler was sure of it. Returning home was the stupidest thing he had ever let Joey convince him to do. Since the first days of their friendship, Joey had spent a large portion of his time trying to convince Chandler to do something dumb, but it was always to no avail. Until now. Chandler just couldn't believe it. Of all the times to start letting Joey win arguments – why now?

He glanced over at Joey, who was passed out in the seat next to him. Joey had insisted on taking the window seat, and Chandler was now sure it was simply because he had wanted something to rest his head upon.

Drink followed drink for Chandler, and the flight attendants on the plane were beginning to worry about him. They gathered in the back and whispered together, all of them staring directly at Chandler. Of course, they didn't have much else to concentrate on. It was late night on a trans-Atlantic flight and most of the passengers were dead asleep. A petite, charming attendant named Amy was particularly worried about the depressed looking man in seat 12D. He obviously had problems, and the friend he was traveling with was too busy snoring to provide him any comfort.

Chandler reached up slowly, his coordination and movement somewhat distorted from the all the alcohol he had consumed. His finger pressed against the call button, and a small beep emitted from the speaker next to Amy. She didn't bother asking what he needed; she simply began to make another drink. After she fixed up his trusty Rum and Coke, she wrapped it in a napkin and brought it to him.

She began to speak before she was at his side, but she was sure to whisper. She didn't want to wake any of the other passengers. "Here you are, sir. A Rum and Coke, just for you, but I think this is going to be your last one, okay?" Her voice had somewhat of a southern twang to it, not enough to distract you, but just enough to charm you.

"The last one! Why?" Chandler really wasn't that upset about it. He had seen the drunks on television and movie airplanes throw quite a fit about it though, so he figured he could at least try to fit the cliché. "But I demand more drinks! It is my right. It is my privilege as a citizen of the United….Airlines…." Chandler sighed and smirked at the attendant. "The last one, yeah, that's fine. I don't care that much anyway."

Amy smiled at him. There was something somewhat charming about his drunken rambling. "You should try to get some sleep, sir."

"Are you kidding? Listen to this." He nodded toward Joey, who snored again right on cue. "Why do you think I'm drinking so much?"

She laughed lightly and nodded her head in understanding. "Well, originally I thought it was because you were some kind of emotional disaster area."

"Well, that too."

"Listen, there are some empty seats in the back, why don't you go back there and stretch out. I really think some sleep will do you some good." Her eyebrows jumped a little and hung over her eyes as she stared at him, waiting while he considered her proposition.

"Yeah, okay. That sounds good." He grabbed his drink and pushed his tray back up into place. "Now I just have to remember how to walk."

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"Has anyone discussed where he's going to stay?" Phoebe asked and then took a sip of her tea. Ross, Rachel, and she were sitting in their private office area at Central Perk, their new co-owned business. Monica was out in the kitchen, cooking away, so the three of them were taking the opportunity to discuss some issues that they normally couldn't - Chandler issues.

"No. I really don't want to bring it up with Monica. I thought she was a mess before, but she's been even worse since she found out he's coming back." Rachel leaned back against one of the large wooden desks, her arms folded across her chest. "She just doesn't know what to do with herself."

"But we can't just put Chandler in a hotel room," Ross said. "He's one of our best friends in the world; we haven't seen him in forever…I mean he's been in another country for god's sake! It's just not right." Ross shook his head in disbelief. "I mean I would love for him to stay with us, but with Phoebe so close to popping, it just wouldn't be comfortable for him. We're going to be on high alert for the next two weeks."

"I guess he can stay at my place with Joey, but that's really going to get in the way of our alone time." Rachel paused and thought it over. "Joey's going to be really upset about that."

They all knew what the obvious solution was, but they just didn't want to say it. Monica had a guest room, free, clean, and ready for use, but none of them had the heart to bring it up. It wasn't a suggestion any of them were capable of giving to Monica. Besides, Chandler wouldn't be too happy about it either.

"No, that's just not right," Phoebe complained. "You and Joey deserve this time together, and Chandler isn't going to get in the way of that. I'm sure he wouldn't want to anyway. I'll ask Monica about the guest room, and if she says no, then he'll stay at a hotel. There's nothing we can do about it." She looked back and forth between Ross and Rachel. "It sucks, I know. But there's just nothing we can do about it."

"What if she says yes, but then Chandler says no?" Rachel couldn't help but ask. After seeing the look in Chandler's eyes the day he and Joey flew to Italy, she just couldn't picture him being okay with staying in the guest bedroom of the apartment that used to be their home.

Phoebe shrugged her shoulders, "Then he stays in a hotel."

"Yeah, I bet Monica would take that well." Ross hated everything about the situation. At first it had been ideal – his sister and his best friend. What better guy could he want for his little sister? But now things had gone to hell in a hand basket and everything had become much harder. Now, his sister and his best friend couldn't be in the same room. Their names could not be mentioned to one another, and more recently, the two of them couldn't be in the same country.

They stood in silence for a few contemplative moments before Monica walked in, her white chef outfit stained with random things ranging from burn marks to condiments. "Hey guys." Monica, always alert, quickly picked up on the rather depressing vibe inside their office. "What's going on?" But she knew what was going on. They were talking about her and Chandler; she had no doubt about it. It was a feeling she had gotten many times since their divorce. She knew that while it was excruciating for her and Chandler to go through, it was very painful for their four best friends to go through as well.

Phoebe decided it was now or never – she had to ask. Joey and Chandler were arriving at Kennedy in less than a day and some plans were going to need to be made. "Monica, we need to know whether or not Chandler can stay in your guest room while he and Joey are here, because if he can't, we need to look into finding him a hotel room." Rachel and Ross looked on in semi-shock. They hadn't expected Phoebe to bring it up to Monica so soon…or with them in the room.

Monica had been thinking about it a lot lately, and she had decided that if she was going to attempt to repair some of the damage she had done, then proximity would help. After agonizing over it for days and days, she had decided the night before that if he wanted to; Chandler could stay in her apartment. "Yeah…well, if it's okay with Chandler then its okay with me."

Monica had no desire to discuss it beyond that, so she quickly snatched up a pen from the desk, which is what she had come to retrieve in the first place, and exited the room. She walked back to her chef station and began signing her signature on the bottom of some order forms. It was all out of her hands now, she knew that. The ball was in his court, and he was going to have to decide whether or not he could handle living in the same quarters as her. She hoped and prayed that he would say yes, but she was almost certain that he would say no.

It was not the answer they were expecting. Before she answered, not Ross, nor Rachel, nor Phoebe could fathom Monica actually allowing Chandler to stay there, it was just something that they felt they had to ask. While they were all joyous to see that Monica was taking a positive step forward, they were all left with one terrifying realization – one of them was going to have to ask Chandler.

They glanced back and forth at each other, each of them trying to come up with a fair and simple way to decide which one of them was going to be the poor soul that had to bring this up to Chandler. None of them wanted the job. As curious as they were about Monica and Chandler's relationship, it had become quite clear over the last few months that it was something they just shouldn't talk about.

"There has to be some kind of fair way to decide this," Ross ran a hand through his hair and continued to think.

Then, a light bulb flashed over someone's head as the idea arrived with full force. A hand shot up as two words echoed throughout their small little office area. "Not it!"

"Not it!"

"Damn it!" The two winners stared at the one loser, whose face was flooded with frustration. "This sucks…'

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Joey awoke with a gasp. He had been having a nightmare, the same one he had been having for quite sometime. In the dream, he is tired and sweating, carrying a bag on his back and another two in his hands. He climbs hundreds of flights of stairs until he reaches a golden door with big black letters on it reading, "Rachel's Apartment." A smile comes over his face as he pushes the door open, but as he does so; his girlfriend's apartment does not come into view. Instead, the room is nothing but black, with a large bed in the middle of it. Rachel is lying on the bed, completely naked, with her arms wrapped around a person whose face he cannot see. She hears him come in, and looks up. "Oh, I'm sorry Joey, but I just got tired of waiting." She shrugs. "Can you be sure to shut the door on your way out?"

It was a haunting nightmare that had been plaguing him since shortly after he and Chandler arrived in Italy. It wouldn't go away, no matter what he did. He was about to turn to Chandler for some words of comfort, when he realized his best friend wasn't sitting beside him. Joey sat up a little straighter in his seat and began to glance around the darkened plane for his friend.

On the first sweep, his eyes found nothing, but on the second trip he spotted Chandler in the back of the plane, smiling and talking with a girl who Joey remember as a flight attendant. It immediately struck Joey as strange and extremely uncommon, but yet he was fascinated by it. Just the way Chandler looked captured his curiosity. He looked different. He looked refreshed. He looked…happy.

Joey couldn't believe his eyes. Chandler Bing was talking to another woman, and he actually looked happy. And as if that wasn't crazy enough, the girl looked happy, too,


	3. Resurrection

How often does a person get on a plane, and not want to get off? As far as Chandler Bing knew, flying was never an experience that a person wanted to last forever. As he sat in the back row of the large 747, talking to the second most beautiful woman he had ever seen, he was beginning to change his mind. He couldn't remember the last time he had smiled so much.

He told her everything. He talked about Monica and the divorce and leaving New York City. He talked about his friends and the life he left behind. He told her about Central Perk. He told her about the insane chain of events that ended with him owning part of his favorite hangout. He told her about his empty life in Rome. He told her about his best friend's dreams coming true.

"We're gonna have to stop in a little while. We're getting close to the coast and the passengers are gonna start waking up." Amy glanced around the cabin and noticed a few of the passengers had already awoken.

"Well that's good, ya know, because I was running out of things to talk about anyway." Chandler smirked and nodded, the same way he had done a million times before after a joke. It felt good to him.

Amy laughed, but it wasn't a complete laugh. It was some sort of hybrid of smiling and laughing. In his head, Chandler was now dubbing it a "smaugh." Years ago, it would have been one those small little traits that Chandler would have found way too annoying. At the moment, he found it addicting. "So, you think you've told me everything, huh?"

"Well not everything. I mean, I gotta save some things for Oprah." Chandler sat up a little straighter in his chair. He was feeling great. It was incredible. It was even more incredible when he remembered that just a few hours ago he was drunk and well on his way to a hangover.

Amy smiled, giving Chandler a brief glimpse at some of the whitest teeth he had ever seen. "Oh god, my cheeks hurt from laughing so much." Chandler was ecstatic on the inside. He hadn't felt this feeling in so long. He couldn't quite place it. What was it? "There is one more thing I wanna know. After all that's happened, why are you going back to New York?"

"Well when I left the first time, I forgot all my Lionel Ritchie records, so I just wanted to go back and get them." He paused for a second, but he didn't know why. What was this familiar thing? Amy laughed, and he was about to continue, when he realized exactly what it was he was feeling. He was smiling. He his hands were flying as he talked. He was pausing for laughter.

He was funny. Chandler Bing felt funny once again, and for a brief second, he was so happy that he wanted to cry.

Amy sensed the wheels turning inside his head. "Is something wrong?"

"No." Chandler slowly shook his head. "As hard as that is to believe."

"Well then answer my question. Seriously! A curious mind wants to know." She leaned back a little in her chair. She was so interested in him. His story was so heartbreaking, yet he still had a light shining inside of him. She could see it. So many things about him appealed to her, but it was the light inside that refused to burn out that really drew her to him.

"I don't know. Most of me just wants to let everything go. You know? Just forget about Monica and the divorce and move on with my life. But there's this little part of me, somewhere deep inside…I think it's in this area here," Chandler moved his arm around his lower chest. "I think it might be my appendix. I mean, it doesn't do anything else. So yeah, my appendix wants to know what happened." Chandler shrugged. "I think my appendix needs some answers."

"They took my appendix when I was seventeen." Amy stopped and then looked away, slightly embarrassed. "I don't know why I mentioned that."

"It's okay." Chandler leaned in close. "If you want, when we land, I can try to help you find it." Both of them laughed, and neither moved away.

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Finally, they were done for the night. Business was always great at Central Perk, but ever since the six of them had redone the place, people couldn't stay away. It was terrific for their bank accounts but horrible for their health. They were always exhausted. For Ross and Rachel, it was a second job. They both had their careers, but now the time they used to spend hanging out in the coffee house was spent working in the coffee house. Monica was there full-time, as was Phoebe, who had all but abandoned her career as a masseuse.

They had hired some help. Nic, the first girl they employed, was recently promoted and given the title of operations supervisor. She took a lot of the small stuff off their hands, handling paper work and personal issues with the other workers. She had proven herself quite capable in the five months she had been working there.

Nic watched as the last of the waiting crew left the building, and then turned her attention towards cleaning up. It had become a ritual for them. Every single night, without fail, one could walk by Central Perk after closing and find the five of them cleaning up. Nic looked around and saw her four bosses in a corner talking. They were good people. She was happy to work for them.

She remembered when she had first started. She was sure that she was going to be fired. Monica had found her in her apartment after returning from a trip, and had incorrectly assumed that she had slept with Chandler. The issues were worked out not long after that, and things worked out quite well for Nic. Things didn't work out quite as well for Monica and Chandler though.

She found it somewhat strange that she had six bosses, and even stranger that she hadn't seen two of them in what seemed like forever. As sad as it was, she remembered very little about Chandler. She hadn't known him for very long, and for the time that she did, he was only a ghost of the person he had once been. There just wasn't enough left of him to remember.

Joey, however, she remembered everything about. She had fallen for him the second she had laid eyes on him. He was everything she had ever wanted in a man, and she wasn't very happy to find out about his relationship with Rachel, another one of her bosses. They had definitely made a connection though. Nic was sure of that.

In his absence, her crush on him wavered some, but not a lot. Even though making a move on him would surely end her career at Central Perk, Nic couldn't say with absolute certainty that she would never try it. If the opportunity presented itself, she just might go for it. Before she could travel any farther down that path of thoughts, Ross interrupted her.

"Hey Nic, I'm taking off for the night. Have a good one." Ross smiled and moved passed her toward the doors. Rachel was already waiting outside.

"Where are you going? You're supposed to stay and help us clean up. It's tradition." Nic playfully crossed her arms across her chest.

"I know, I know, but I have a good excuse. I have to go with Rachel to pick Chandler and Joey up from the airport." Ross knew that Nic was aware of their respective social situations. Even though no one directly discussed it with her, she was around enough to pick up the necessary pieces of information and put the puzzle together. Everyone knew that she knew.

"Oh, I see. It's so late, though. It's a strange time to be arriving someplace."

"Well, Joey wanted to get here as soon as he could. He really misses Rachel." Ross nodded and began to walk out the doorway. "I'll see you tomorrow."

His last comment had stung a little bit. She never liked to hear about Joey and Rachel. She had heard Rachel speak of him, and had heard the others talk about the two of them together, and she could tell they were desperately in love. Not even knowing that could prevent her from feeling the way she did.

She walked toward the counter and picked up a towel, depressed to have so much work left to do, but somewhat excited about the return of Joey.

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Unfortunately for Chandler, Amy had to go back to work. Chandler hadn't gotten any sleep, even though he intended to, but at the moment it didn't matter. His thoughts were on her and her alone. Talking to her had been a surreal experience. She laughed at his jokes and she smiled at him. It had been awhile since Chandler had gotten such reactions from people. Lately, he couldn't even make Joey laugh.

Joey didn't know what to think. Part of him was thrilled to see Chandler in such a blissful state, but another part was terrified of the possible mess this development could create. Joey did not want to bring Chandler back into Monica's life with a new woman on his arm, but Chandler was clearly happy, and that was something Joey just couldn't ignore.

Joey looked towards his friend. "What's her name?"

"Amy." Chandler wandered how long Joey was going to stay silent. He was sure that Joey was flipping out internally, but at the moment he didn't care. Things were happening so quickly. He was feeling so different. He didn't have the time or the capacity to worry about Joey. "She lives in New York."

"Wow. That's only halfway around the world from where you live." Joey smiled and sat up in his chair. As they got closer and closer to New York, he was focusing less on Chandler and more on seeing Rachel. They had been apart for far too long.

Chandler could tell that Joey's thoughts had shifted, as they so often did. He was happy for him. Joey was never the type of guy who looked for love, but when he found it, he never wanted to let it go. Courting Rachel was not the easiest thing Joey had ever done. Chandler knew it had been painful for him. After spending his entire life bedding any female he desired, Joey was crushed to find that the only one he wanted forever didn't want him. Joey had once described it to him as "irony, or poetry, or something."

Chandler looked around the cabin to see if he could spot Amy, but he couldn't. So, he turned his attention back to Joey. "Are you excited?" It was a dumb question, but he couldn't think of anything else to ask.

Joey smiled wide and rubbed his palms together. "You bet I am. New York, baby!"

Chandler checked to see if Joey had disturbed any of the other passengers. Sure enough, he had, and sure enough, he was oblivious to it. "That reminds me of you in London." For a few brief moments, memories of Monica and him in England came flooding back. The start of it all. The first time he had ever seen her as…

Joey interrupted his thoughts. "Are you excited?"

"Nowhere near as excited as you, Joe." Amy walked through the curtains from first-class and immediately caught Chandler's eye. He smiled at her, and she smiled back before turning to help an elderly woman. "But I'm not dreading it as much as I was."

"Good." Joey yawned, then continued, "I'm just happy you decided to come, cause I gotta tell ya, I didn't think I was ever going to convince you." He laughed a little to himself.

"You're not the reason I changed my mind, Joe."

"I'm not?" Joey, now alerted, turned in his seat to face Chandler. "Then what made you decide to come back?"

Chandler smiled as Amy made eye contact with him again. Without looking away from her, he answered his friend. "My appendix."

Joey bit his lip and nodded as he turned away from Chandler and started to look out the window. He mumbled to himself, "I always thought you were Christian."

-----------------------------------------

Hundreds of people pushed their way towards the door of the plane. After a long flight across the Atlantic Ocean, they all wanted to be on solid Earth again. Chandler and Joey made their way inch by inch toward the exit. Chandler spent the entire time arguing with himself in his mind. He really wanted to ask for her number, but he just couldn't remember how to do that with a woman.

It then occurred to him that he had never known how to do that. With maybe the exception of Ross, he had the worst luck with women. If his relationship with Monica hadn't just drunkenly stumbled into his life, he would have been alone forever, he was sure. Hell, he never would have had the nerve to even ask Monica for her number. Lucky for him, he had already known it.

Before he knew it, they were at the exit, and then they were out of the plane. He had stalled for as long as he could, trying to give himself as much time as possible to build up the courage to ask her, but he just couldn't do it. The transformation was complete. He really was back to his old self – funny and gutless.

They were polar opposites as they walked down the gateway. Joey was visibly excited. He knew Rachel was only a few feet away. Chandler was visibly upset. Perhaps the key to his getting over Monica was only a few feet away as well, but he had left it behind.

"Chandler!"

He turned to look down the narrow hall full of people, and he couldn't help but grin as Amy pushed her way towards him. She held a piece of paper in her hand, folded neatly into a perfect square. It reminded him of someone.

"This is my number. I'd love it if you called me. Maybe we could get together before you go back to Italy." She did it again. She "smaughed."

"Yeah. That would be…perfection." He smiled and looked down the gateway toward Joey, who had refused to stop. "I should catch up to him. I'll see you later." He turned around and was about to start walking away when she grabbed him and pulled him back.

And then she kissed him, and his entire life changed.


End file.
